A similar device was built by Matt Donahoe and Jeff DeCew out of LEGO. It can add and subtract 4 bit numbers. You can read more about it here.

A quick video showing it in motion:

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Andrew Carol has built a couple more complicated mechanical computers out of LEGO. He built one based off the Antikythera mechanism, which was a analog computer for calculating various astronomical dates. Andrew provides more details here.

He also built one based off Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, a design for a mechanical computer from the 1800s that could calculate 7th order polynomials to 31 digits of accuracy. More details on the LEGO version can be seen here.

The LEGO Antikythera mechanism:

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The LEGO Difference Engine:

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What do you think of these mechanical computers? Does anyone want to build the Marble Adding Machine? I know I'd love to see someone try!

Have a great weekend and if you create any math-related art, please share with all of us on the corkboard. If you find something cool on the web please share that as well. I hope to share community content in a post on Monday.